They call him "Mr. Nice Guy," but Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will need more than charm to fill the big shoes left by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad when he puts on his retirement slippers Friday.
Within a year, probably much sooner, he will face an election, with his main opposition coming from hardline Islamists bent on turning multicultural, economically vibrant Malaysia into an Islamic state.
Mahathir, 77, has been in power for so long that nobody, in the absence of opinion polls, can be quite sure how his departure will affect his United Malays National Organization (UMNO), lynchpin of the ruling National Coalition.
Abdullah, 63, has not made it any easier, refusing to be drawn on how he might try to change Malaysia when he takes over. He has pledged to continue his mentor's policies, but there is no doubt the style will be different.
Mahathir is outspoken and confrontational while Abdullah is seen as quieter, a team player.
Analysts say Abdullah, who has no experience in economic management, is unlikely to change any of Mahathir's business policies which have brought dramatic growth to the country.
His regional foreign policy is likely to focus on enhancing political ties and trade with Southeast Asian nations and Japan, and it is possible he will be less critical of Australia, one of Mahathir's favorite whipping boys.
On the wider international stage he will probably find major trading partners in the US and the EU delighted to have a less prickly customer to deal with.
Domestically, analysts hold out little hope for improvement on human rights issues, for which Mahathir was regularly criticized.
As home minister, a title he held along with deputy prime minister, Abdullah has over the past two years approved the detention without trial of scores of alleged Muslim militants, many suspected of membership in the regional Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network.
Abdullah's major legitimate political challenge will come from the opposition Islamic Party (PAS), a hardline Muslim group which wants to introduce Shariah criminal law, complete with amputations for theft and stoning to death for adultery.
Abdullah has strong religious credentials, having majored in Islamic studies at University Malaya, but this is unlikely to make much impression on the country's more militant Muslims as long as he upholds the secular nature of the Constitution.
Malaysia is sometimes described as the world's most economically successful Islamic state, and Abdullah made it clear in an interview that he intends to keep it that way.
The biggest picture on the wall of his office seemed designed to reinforce Abdullah's reputation as "Mr. Nice Guy" -- showing him bowing low to kiss his mother's hand on the day he was appointed deputy prime minister in 1999.
But in the waiting room visitors were faced with a different image -- Abdullah with clenched fist raised in classic politician's pose.
Whether the kiss or the fist will dominate when he takes over remains to be seen.
Abdullah is candid about the problems he faces in a multicultural society with radical Islamists on one side and an economically-powerful Chinese minority on the other.
Beneath the picture of his humility before his mother is a large tank containing a single flowerhorn fish, a Chinese symbol of good luck.
It is not clear whether it is there simply for its beauty, as a mark of respect to Malaysia's multiculturalism, or as an acknowledgement that he is going to need a bit of luck to step successfully into Mahathir's shoes.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
RSS